Skip to content
Better Way Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Better Way Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.7M
Granted FY2024still arriving
45
Grants FY2024still arriving
17
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$6.0MCommunity Improvement$1.3MRecreation & Sports$1.2MFood & Nutrition$772kCrime & Legal$763kArts & Culture$746kInternational$707kHuman Services$545kOther$0
02FY2024 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k11 grants · $55k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $270k
  • $50k–250k21 grants · $2.4M
$30,000
Median grant
17
States reached
$68M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe$200,000
University of Notre Dame$185,000
Lower Sioux Indian Community$160,000
Oceti Sakowin Community Academy$150,000
Hearts Gathered$150,000
Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation$120,000
Tanzania Early Childhood Development Network$100,000
NACA-Inspired Schools Network$100,000
Individual grant recipient$100,000
Keres Children's Learning Center$100,000
Tanzania Home Economics Association$100,000
Amani Girls Home$100,000
Red Cloud Indian School$100,000
Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee$100,000
Mama's Hope Organization for Legal Assistance$100,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

US giving: 72% of grant dollars ($9.7M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 28% that went abroad ($3.8M) is mapped below.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–24, $173k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 94% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Denver Indian Center: $5k → 12%Chief Seattle Club: $5k → 9%Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery: $5k → 11%Saad K'idilye: $75k → 14%Denver Indian Center: $5k → 12%Chief Seattle Club: $5k → 9%Denver Indian Center: $5k → 12%Denver Indian Center: $5k → 12%Kids Above Everything: $5k → 12%Sojourner Family Peace Center: $5k → 17%Sojourner Family Peace Center: $5k → 17%Sojourner Family Peace Center: $5k → 17%Sojourner Family Peace Center: $5k → 17%Sojourner Family Peace Center: $5k → 17%Minneapolis American Indian Center: $8k → 11%Minneapolis American Indian Center: $5k → 11%Minneapolis American Indian Center: $5k → 11%Minneapolis American Indian Center: $5k → 11%Tiwahe Foundation: $5k → 11%Free Bikes 4 Kidz: $5k → 11%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
SD
IN
OH
CA
CO
NE
AZ
NM
DC
OK
GA
FL

Beyond the US: 28% of all-years giving ($3.8M)

1 country, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
Tanzania$3.8M · 38 grants
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 14% of Better Way Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Better Way Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 29% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 53 repeat orgs$905k to everyone else

53 repeat relationships: 33 still active in FY2024, 20 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

53
30

Total granted

$11M
$755k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+37%

Still filing today

60%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $150k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementCivil RightsArts & CultureReligionOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • KC
    KERES CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER
    5× · 2019–2024 · $677k · revenue +112%
  • TV
    THUNDER VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COR
    5× · 2019–2024 · $632k · revenue +6%
  • MA
    MONTESSORI AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDCARE CENTER INCORPORATED
    6× · 2019–2024 · $557k · revenue +144%

Funded once

  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $200k · revenue +50%
  • RF
    RESULTS FOR DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +76%
  • TO
    TOHONO O'ODHAM COMMUNITY COLLEGEgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $80k · revenue +103%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Little Priest Tribal College

Little priest tribal college is established as an educational institution by the winnebago tribe of nebraska to fulfill the goal of its namesake, chief little priest, "be strong and educate my children".

Education
2
Cankdeska Cikana Community College

To provide higher education opportunities, at the community college level, including vocational and technical training. as a tribal community college, we emphasize the teaching and learning of dakota culture and language toward the…

Education
3
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University

The lac courte oreilles ojibwe university mission is to provide anishinaabe communities with post-secondary and continuing education while advancing the language, culture, and history of the ojibwe. in carrying out the mission, the lac…

—
4
Circle of Nations

To build academic achievement and foster healthy development of the whole child in an intertribal environment.

Education
5
Turtle Mountain Community College

Turtle mountain community college is committed to functioning as an autonomous indian controlled college on the turtle mountain chippewa reservation focusing on general studies, undergraduate education, career & technical education,…

Education
6
Northwest Indian College

To provide postsecondary educational opportunities to meet the academic, vocational, and cultural needs of native american communities in the northwest and to provide education programs in order to promote indigenous self-determination and…

Education
7
Institute of American Indian Arts & Alaska Native

To provide education and instruction in the scholarly study and preservation of indian art to empower creativity and leadership in native arts and cultures through higher education, life-long learning and outreach.

Education
8
Salish School of Spokane

Dynamic Salish language revitalization powering cultural renewal and building a stronger, healthier community.

Education
9
University Cooperative School

We take a joyful, community-oriented approach to raising engaged citizens, deep learners, and brave adventurers with the skills, creativity, and heart needed to better the world.

—
10
White Earth Tribal and Community College

White earth tribal and community college, an anishinaabe controlled liberal arts institution of higher education, is dedicated to educational excellence through provision of culturally relevant curriculum, in partnership with students,…

Education
11
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities accredits institutions of higher education by applying evidence-informed standards and processes to support continuous improvements and promote equitable student achievement and success.

Education
12
Intertribal Agriculture Council

The intertribal agriculture council was founded in 1987 to pursue and promote the conservation, development and use of our agricultural resources of american indian and alaska native tribes.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northwest Indian College Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Farm to Family Fund. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

56 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 56 of the 89 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
56/56
Grantees still filing
41/56
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Amani Girls Home: $896,604 · OtherAmani Girls HomeTanzania Home Economics Association: $852,250 · OtherTanzania Home Economics AssociationMama's Hope Organization for Legal Assistance: $745,034 · OtherMama's Hope Organization for Legal AssistanceIndividual grant recipient: $687,250 · OtherIndividual grant recipientLower Sioux Indian Community: $452,250 · OtherLower Sioux Indian CommunityIndividual grant recipient: $422,250 · OtherIndividual grant recipientChildren in Crossfire Tanzania: $364,809 · OtherHearts Gathered: $355,000 · OtherMashpee Wampanoag Tribe: $300,000 · OtherPueblo of Jemez Walatowa Head Start Language Immersion Program: $270,000 · Other+42 more: $2,542,696 · Other+42 moreUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $1,207,305 · EducationUniversity of Notre Dame du LacKERES CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER: $677,250 · EducationKERES CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTERMONTESSORI AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDCARE CENTER INCORPORATED: $557,250 · EducationMONTESSORI AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDCA…ST CATHERINE UNIVERSITY: $342,879 · EducationST CATHERINE UNIVERSITYNACA-INSPIRED SCHOOLS NETWORK: $300,000 · EducationNACA-INSPIRED SCHOOLS NETWORKOceti Sakowin Community Academy: $250,000 · EducationOceti Sakowin Community AcademyOGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE: $200,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $200,000 · Education+11 more: $320,400 · Education+11 moreTHUNDER VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COR: $632,250 · Community ImprovementSicangu Community Development Corporation: $75,000 · Community Improvement+2 more: $10,000 · Community ImprovementComanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee: $347,500 · Arts & CultureTHE NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN BOARDING SC: $115,000 · Arts & CultureSaad K'idilye': $75,000 · Human ServicesSOJOURNER FAMILY PEACE CENTER INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesMinneapolis American Indian Center: $22,500 · Human ServicesDENVER INDIAN CENTER INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesCHIEF SEATTLE CLUB: $10,000 · Human Services+4 more: $20,000 · Human ServicesRESULTS FOR DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE INC: $100,000 · InternationalAIM HIGHER FOUNDATION: $65,000 · ReligionCATHEDRAL CENTER INC: $20,000 · Religion
Other$7,888,143Education$4,055,084Community Improvement$717,250Arts & Culture$462,500Human Services$172,500International$100,000Religion$85,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $1,207,305 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetKERES CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER: $677,250 over 5y, 15% of budgetTHUNDER VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COR: $632,250 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetMONTESSORI AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDCARE CENTER INCORPORATED: $557,250 over 6y, 17% of budgetHearts Gathered: $355,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetComanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee: $347,500 over 4y, 99% of budgetST CATHERINE UNIVERSITY: $342,879 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNACA-INSPIRED SCHOOLS NETWORK: $300,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetOceti Sakowin Community Academy: $250,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetLITTLE EARTH RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION INC: $234,475 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetOGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE: $200,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $200,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN BOARDING SC: $115,000 over 4y, 8.9% of budgetRESULTS FOR DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTOHONO O'ODHAM COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $80,400 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTeamLift Inc: $80,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetSicangu Community Development Corporation: $75,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetSaad K'idilye': $75,000 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetSAINT CLARE'S TAHOE A MOUNTAIN MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $75,000 over 5y, 7.4% of budgetAIM HIGHER FOUNDATION: $65,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetSAINT PAUL & MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFINANCIAL BEGINNINGS OREGON: $50,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetUNITED INDIANS OF ALL TRIBES FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCOLORADO ACADEMY: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMOUNT MARY UNIVERSITY INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOJOURNER FAMILY PEACE CENTER INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMinneapolis American Indian Center: $22,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLOWER PHALEN CREEK PROJECT: $20,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCATHEDRAL CENTER INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetDENVER INDIAN CENTER INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetINDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER: $17,500 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetFARM TO FAMILY FUND: $15,000 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetTHE CHILDRENS HAVEN INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetHOUSE OF CHAMPIONS: $15,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetEAGLE VALLEY LAND TRUST: $15,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetPINE RIVER-BACKUS FAMILY CENTER: $12,500 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetPROGRESS VALLEY INC: $12,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCHIEF SEATTLE CLUB: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCatholic Climate Covenant: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE COLORADO COLLEGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHIRD WAY CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHERN STAR COUNCIL: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNACDC Financial Services Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOWEESTA CORPORATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds University of Notre Dame du Lac ↗
  • Who funds KERES CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THUNDER VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COR ↗
  • Who funds MONTESSORI AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDCARE CENTER INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds Hearts Gathered ↗
  • Who funds Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee ↗
  • Who funds ST CATHERINE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds NACA-INSPIRED SCHOOLS NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds Oceti Sakowin Community Academy ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE EARTH RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds OGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds THE NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN BOARDING SC ↗
  • Who funds RESULTS FOR DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds TOHONO O'ODHAM COMMUNITY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds TeamLift Inc ↗
  • Who funds Sicangu Community Development Corporation ↗
  • Who funds Saad K'idilye' ↗
  • Who funds SAINT CLARE'S TAHOE A MOUNTAIN MONTESSORI SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds AIM HIGHER FOUNDATION ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

First Nations Develop…Northwest Area Founda…Common Counsel Founda…Ndn Collective IncNovo FoundationThe Minneapolis Found…Opus FoundationSaint Paul & Minnesot…WK Kellogg FoundationNewman's Own Foundati…Otto Bremer TrustVadon Foundation
First Nations Development InstituteCO30.1× affinity13 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: First Nations Development Institute · Northwest Area Foundation · Common Counsel Foundation · Ndn Collective Inc · Novo Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Opus Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · WK Kellogg Foundation · Newman's Own Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Vadon Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Better Way Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Better Way Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • University of Portland: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 89 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Better Way’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home